It's a history thing

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/07/23/157250870/sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space-is-dead

She was a household name, I'm pretty sure.  First American woman in space.

In her memory, I am thinking of how our lives were enriched by the space program.  My grandchildren will only hear about it (the Space Program, NASA) in school, much as my children learned about Viet Nam.

I wonder how the history books will have been written.

Since Viet Nam, women have become a little bit more of a political force.  "Little bit" reflects the number of our government's representatives who are women, not to mention the glass ceiling which continues to shine.

Since men walked on the moon, NASA has become part of history.  I'm glad to occasionally see something on PBS about it.  Earlier this month there was an interesting show (lots of British interviews, perhaps produced in Britain?) on the last Apollo mission.   Great shots of the action of landing and doing experiments on the moon surface.  The last pictures taken of earth from the moon.  The last time people were walking there.  Will we ever go back?  I wonder.